Idle Space Raider

This is the kind of idle game that doesn't meaningfully support active play, nor offline idling. You gotta keep it open and running in the background, despite the fact that the game's entire design is based around advancing automation of the gameplay components. If you want an idle game you don't have to put any thought into, you can consider this one, as it's not inherently bad. That said, the game suffers from terrible balancing [expect significant stalling, and emphasizing certain upgrades over others], and- despite a varied assortment of upgrade sections- is extremely limited in design. Why can the enemies not fight back, thus also allowing us to consider defensive upgrades? Why are there no variations to the gameplay? Why are upgrades extremely meaningless in their effect, after a point, other than key ones [such as weapons] of which there are just not enough opportunities to upgrade or receive upgrades via drops? And once again, what is with that terrible progression pacing? Patience and dealing with monotony aren't things I have the slightest bit of trouble with, but by the time this game became thoroughly mindnumbing and stagnated in its progression, I was only glad to leave it behind, without any lingering considerations for it. As such, while this game isn't inherently bad [and a lot of the criticisms I've seen in the reviews seem to misunderstand how certain systems actually work], and even has a good design framework, it's so niche in its long-term appeal that I can't imagine it to anyone except those who are completely enthused about the idea of a game they only have to check three times a day, and that just to implement the most minor of tweaks to. Well, the early stages of the game were a lot better, of course, and the developer seems to regularly rebalance game elements (in fact, I get a good impression of their investment in the game's development overall, even if I'm less favorable towards the game's current design depth). So it's not a complete write-off, either. If the developer makes existing features more robust, expands on the core of the gameplay, better caters to both active and offline elements, and better balances progression, I imagine I wouldn't have any reason not to move this over to a Recommended. Aside from the first few days of play, the time investment in this game is pretty meaningless, after you've gotten the game's automation elements upgraded. Given the subjectiveness of the game's weaknesses and the game being free to play, I can't say the game isn't worth a try. But I can only say that to the most dedicated of idle players- because, again, even as one of those, I found this a particularly dull offering, even if it wasn't near as troubled [eg, by paid elements, interface issues, underdeveloped components, or so forth] as other notable idle offerings. Again, not saying this game is bad, persay. If you've any inclination to try it regardless of this review, then you probably should. With my having clarified how the game only gets worse balanced and stagnated as it goes on, you should be able to more readily develop a clear idea of when you're done with the game. On the other hand, if you're not into idle games to begin with, I can't see this offering at all being the one to bring you into the fold, and I [i]can[/i] see it being one that'd reinforce negative impressions of the genre [or at least, of its ability to be stimulating, engaging, or creative].

(This review will be updated over time) 14th May 2019: Yesterday I started a Stargate run, where I have fully automated the Shipyard upgrading process via Shipyard Automation. This Stargate is about 30% done now and has gone well. I love the automation capabilities in this game, where you can see your progress go up and up with little input from you. You still have to buy skills, switch items out (if necessary for your build), level Stargate and Void Lab, but this game is basically what a true idle game looks like. 21st March 2019: The game got a new Shipyard upgrade that takes into account your run duration and gives a multiplier to your earned SP. It takes into account offline progression, so now people who can't leave the game open a lot will have a really powerful multiplier for themselves that is better than offline progression would ever be. 5th February 2019: I've played the game since closed alpha and seen it being built over time. I find this to be one of the more interesting pure idle games available on Steam. It includes a lot of different features that work well together - They enhance each other. Each feature uses a different currency, so you have to do different things to enhance them giving you a small challenge at balancing everything. The game includes an automation feature with fully automatic play (even does regular first-stage resets for you) and you can upgrade it over time making it more and more efficient. I would say that if you're looking for an incremental for long-term play (1000+ hours) that will still keep its variety up after a long time, then this is definitely a game to look into.

Sadly, this game seems to be getting hate from steam players who start up the game knowing absolutely nothing about idle games, as well as the learning curve putting of players... But really, this idle game truly holds some promise. As a dude who's been playing idle games for years, I am indeed looking forward to this game as long as it'll be developed over time - as most successful idle games follow the trend.